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Lanes on the Southern State Parkway will close Sunday night as work begins on a $16 million project to replace the sides of more than a dozen bridges crossing key arterials in Nassau and Suffolk.

East Setauket-based Bove Industries won the contract to replace 17 bridge parapets -- the low protective masonry walls along the edge of the bridges -- at nine locations islandwide and Sunday night work begins on two of them.

The middle and left lane of the parkway will be closed between Deer Park Avenue/Route 231 (Exit 39) and Wellwood Avenue (Exit 35) between midnight and 5 a.m. All entrance and exit ramps for Belmont Avenue at the Southern State also will be closed.

Once work is completed westbound, two of the three parkway lanes eastbound will be closed later in the week between New Highway (Exit 34) and Belmont Avenue (Exit 37) between midnight and 6 a.m. The nighttime parkway closures are expected to be completed, weather permitting, by Friday, said state Department of Transportation spokeswoman Eileen Peters.

The closures are needed to erect scaffolding at the Belmont Avenue and Little East Neck Road bridges over the parkway. The maintenance repairs are to improve the aging concrete arches' life span and help maintain the safety of about 130,000 passenger vehicles that use that section of the parkway daily.

The work includes re-pointing of stones, upgrading approach guide rails to standards, and installation of pedestrian fencing. Peters said drivers are urged to use alternate routes, such as Sunrise Highway (NY Route 27), to avoid delays.

Under a current construction schedule, the state DOT expects the New Highway, Little East Neck Road and Belmont Avenue bridge work to be completed in June.

Work will start on the remaining six bridge sites in May, with completion of the work on the Bellmore Road, Avenue C/Merchants Concourse and Zeckendorf Boulevard bridges expected in May 2014, and completion of the Oakfield Avenue, Deer Park Avenue/Route 231 and Udall Road overpass repairs in September 2014.